Jesus Saves

My message today, friends, is entitled Jesus Saves, and I believe we have allowed ourselves to be cooled down to the prevailing temperature of the church in regard to evangelism. We're each so desensitized to sin because of the society in which we live in today that we're not too much bothered if somebody dies and goes on to hell. We've convinced ourselves that God is more tolerant of sin in our day and therefore more lenient towards it, but people are perishing, friends, and dropping into a devil's hell every minute.

With that in mind, I want to read you today a sermon extract from the evangelist Rolf Barnard, because I believe the light of fire under you, it sure has lit a fire under me. And if you only take the time, friends, to listen and hear this message, I promise it will powerfully impact you, and it may in the process thaw out your heart in regard to lost souls. Listen, friends, Jesus saves, and he saves lost sinners.

My Bible says, For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. Please give me your undivided attention as I read you this heart-piercing message by Rolf Barnard. Here are his words.

God is not going to put up with this stuff we've been calling Christianity forever. We're headed for judgment like we've never dreamed of, and our only way of escape is for Christians to start acting like Christ. Jesus came down here because God so loved the world.

He didn't come down here to condemn the world, but it came down here that the world through him might be saved. God help us to be a little like the Lord. I was up in Massachusetts the first time I held a meeting in New England.

Being from the South, they found it a little difficult to understand me. I found it very difficult to understand them. They were very nice people and very cultured, very dignified, very quiet, and very reserved.

As I remember, I started the meeting on Sunday morning. My wife was with me, and I preached Sunday morning and Sunday night, Monday night, Tuesday night, and Wednesday night. After the service Wednesday night, I said to the dear pastor, Brother Pastor, I believe we ought to close the meeting tomorrow night.

He said, Oh no, no, we couldn't do that. I said, I was just making a suggestion. My judgment is we ought to just close out and I'll go home.

He said, Well, what are you talking about? I said, You want me to pray? I haven't seen your church on its face, weeping its heart to God. I've been asking you to do it, and God is not going to bless people if they're not that kind of people. You might have had some more people to join the church, but God is not going to save people in an atmosphere of dry eyes and prayerlessness.

I've been asking you to go out here and talk to people and witness to them, and bring them in their cars, in your cars, and invite them to the services. He said, Brother Barnard, we've never done anything like that in our lives. I said, I'm beginning to believe it.

Well, my wife and I are going to a room, and if it's all right with you, I'll preach tomorrow night, and then we'll close the meeting. We went on to the little apartment they had for us, and after a while somebody knocked on the door, and the pastor and the deacons came in. They were greatly disturbed.

They said, Brother Barnard, we just can't afford to close the meeting. It would just hurt everything. People would wonder why.

I told them that a church is under obligation to get its prayers answered, and I had them turn to Acts 5.42 when we read, And daily in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. They said, we've never have done anything like this, but it's in there, isn't it? I said, yes, and they went out, and Thursday night the church was full because they went out and invited them to come, and they began to do what the Bible says. And I preached that night, and before I got through preaching, a little girl began to sob, and when we stood up to sing, she came running down to the front and just fell down on her fours there, and after a while I went down and talked to her, and after a while she stood up and said, Jesus is here.

We found out she was a little 16-year-old Italian girl, and that was the first gospel sermon she'd ever heard. Some of the girls went and brought her. She didn't know A from zero, but you see, a sovereign God, he can do things as he pleases.

Sometimes it takes him 40 years to save a man, and sometimes he saves him the first time he hears the gospel. I think the little girl got saved. Of course, I won't know until I get to the judgment.

None of us will, but it scared them. They'd never seen anything like that, so I had them do like they do down south. I had them come around and shake hands with her.

Friday night the little girl wasn't at the service, and Saturday night she wasn't at the service, so I got a little worried, and I went to the pastor and said, I am troubled about that little girl. Do you know where she lives? He said, no, preacher, I'm sorry. We got so excited about what happened.

We never saw anything like that, and nobody asked her where she lived. We don't even know her name. I feel awful bad about it.

I'll tell you right now, if she's not here in the morning, we are going to organize, and we're going to search this city and find that little girl. I'm troubled about her. Well, Sunday morning came, and she was sitting in the congregation, and it so happened my wife was sitting close to her, and that morning I preached on hell, the sinner's long home, and after I'd been preaching about 25 minutes, they said that little Roman Catholic Italian girl, which Thursday night had stood and said, Jesus is in here.

She began to cry, then she began to sob, and pretty soon her body was just rocking with sobs, and my wife put her arm on her shoulder, and pretty soon my wife rose and the little girl, and they broke up my sermon as they came down front, down that church aisle. My wife brought her up upon the platform and rolled up her sleeves, had her turn around and rolled her dress down as far as modesty allowed, and let me look at her face. Her back was just terrible whelps, and they were festered and fevered.

Her arms were cut, and her face was cut, and she stood up for a while, and I saw church born. She told what had happened to her, to that nice Sunday morning crowd of Baptists. She said, Thursday night I ran home.

I was so happy. Mama and Daddy, my brother and my two sisters were in the front room. I went in and told them that Jesus Christ had come in here, and He is mine, and I am His.

She told them what had happened, and the Daddy asked, Where have you been? She said, I went down to the Baptist church. They are having meetings there, and I never saw anything like it, Daddy. All I know is that Jesus is in here.

Her Daddy got up and went and got an old black snake whip. He commanded his girl to stand, and she did, and he whipped her with that black snake whip until she lost consciousness. She said, I don't know how long I lay there, but I was awakened by pain, and I opened my eyes just in time for my two sisters standing on either side of me, kicking me in the ribs.

Then my brother came and spat in my face. My mother came and cursed me, and my Daddy told me to get up. I don't know how I did, but I did.

He looked me in the face and said, If I ever hear you talk like that again, I'll kill you. Go to your room. She said, I went to my room, and he turned the key in the door.

I didn't have any medical attention Thursday night. Friday morning, my Daddy came, unlocked the door, and handed me a piece of bread and a glass of water. I stayed in the room all day Friday and Friday night.

During that time, those whelps were feverish and festered, and I was in mortal agony. She continued. Saturday morning he came, and I was waiting for him.

I was desperate. As he turned the key in the lock, and he put his hand on the door, he turned it. I let him turn it just enough.

I knew it was open. Then I jerked it right quickly, and he fell in the room. I darted out.

I had so much fever, I guess I had superhuman strength. I ran out of there. I wandered around that city and found an old empty freight car, and I stayed in it all day.

And when the sun went down, I went to a pharmacy. The pharmacist knew me, and he treated my wounds some. And I slept that night in the empty freight car.

Sunday morning, I was hungry. I was sick, and I was hurting, and I said, What shall I do? And then she said, I remember the Jesus people. And I said, I will go up where the Jesus people are.

They will help me. Then she came to church and took her seat, and she was in pain and feeling sorry for herself and afraid to go back home, she said. I felt so sorry for myself.

Then I began to listen to the preacher, and he talked about hell, that awful place. And after a while, she said, I wish what would happen to me and to you. I forgot myself, and all I could think of was the daddy that whipped me, the mother that cursed me, the sisters that kicked me, and the brother that spat in my face.

And I thought, they're going to that awful place the preacher is talking about, and then so help me. That little Italian girl lifted up her hands and began to weep, and she broke the heart of that crowd. I saw them fall on their knees, and I was in a prayer meeting.

She said, oh, Jesus people, won't you help me keep my people from being sent to hell? That little Italian girl didn't know much, but she knew Jesus was in here, and he loved her, and her loved ones were going to be sent to hell, and she didn't want them to go. So she thought she could say, oh, Jesus people, you will help me, won't you? Well, we closed the meeting on Sunday night, and I was to get to New York on Monday. The pastor grabbed me and said, let me get on the telephone and call them and say you won't be there until Tuesday.

You just have to stay over Monday night. We're going to have a baptizing, and I want you to have the great pleasure. I said, all right, I will.

Well, we made the arrangements, and they took a vote that everybody come Monday night that was going to be baptized. The deacon got up and made a motion to authorize the evangelist to bury in baptism. Monday night came.

I went down into that pool, and five people came there, and I got them all down in the pool together. I baptized them. I baptized that little 16-year-old girl.

Then I baptized her mama. I baptized her daddy. I baptized her two sisters, and then I baptized her brother.

Listen to me, friends. That message of Ralph Barnard is true. When Jesus was here in his earthly ministry, and when he entered a village, those that encountered him experienced change.

Jesus transforms the lives of those he touches. This story of the little Italian girl and her family is not only gripping, but it demonstrates the power of the gospel when it's preached, and the power of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Oh, friends, let's confess our great lack of being evangelists and soul winners, and let us go to God to ignite us to be better, effectual soul winners for him.

Oh, let us pray.